For Real
Eighteen months after being evicted from their long-running location at Queen and Broadview, the Real Jerk (842 Gerrard East, at Carlaw, 416-463-6055, therealjerk.com, @RealJerkToronto) has found a new home in Johnny K’s now-defunct Playpen.
“It fell into our laps,” says the Jerk’s Ed Pottinger. “It wasn’t on the market, but we knew somebody who knew somebody. It’s been a long process. I’m only starting to exhale!”
The new 135-seat Jamaican joint is scheduled to open as early as next weekend.
Klub KO’d
Hanif Harji’s name is associated with some of the most successful resto-lounges around – regular cash-spinners like Blowfish, Nyood, Westlodge and Patria, the latter two in partnership with club king Charles Khabouth. But after six years, his Kultura never got off the ground, the victim of a difficult location, indifferent food and zero scenesters. Watch him reinvent the three-storey venue on Sunday (September 15) as Olé Olé (169 King East, at Jarvis, 416-363-9000), a tequila cantina dedicated to Mexican and Spanish tapas. We smell ‘spensive tacos à la Playa Cabana.
